Cupboard desk



Dec. 27, V J, KlLLuJs ET AL CUPBOARD DESK Filed Nov. 5. 1931 2Sheets-Shem 1 N L R L li f y. I a k I v Dec. 27, 1932. J. KlLLiUS ET AL7 1,892,061

CUPBOARD DESK Filed Nov. 5, 19-31 2 Sheets-Sheen 2 the rear.

no desk in front of them.

Patented Dec. 27, 1932 PATENT FHEZE JAMES KILLIU'S ANZD CHARLES H. DEFREHN, OF J OHNSTO'W N, PENNSYLVANIA CUPBOARD DESK Application filedNovember 5, 1931. Serial No. 573,180.

By way of explanation, it may be stated that there is in common use, aschool desk comprising a frame, a forwardly-extended seat pivotallymounted on the frame, a back for the seat, carried by the frame, and arearwardly-projectingtop mounted on the frame, the top-of one desk beingaccessible to a person occupying the seat of the desk next in \Vhen aschool room is equipped with a plurality of desks, constructed andarranged as above set forth, there is, at the front of the room, atransverse line of seats which are of no particular use, since there isOne object of the present invention, therefore, is to provide a meanswhereby the front row of seats can be taken off, and be replaced bycupboards or cabinets, which will afford convenient storage space alongthe front line of desks in a school room.

Another object of the invention is to provide novel means for mountingand controlling the slidable front of the cabinet or cupboard.

It is within the province of the disclosure to improve generally and toenhance the utility of devices of that type to which the inventionappertains.

With the above and other objects in view, which will appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention resides in the combination andarrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafterdescribed and-claimed, it being understood that changes in the preciseembodiment of the invention herein disclosed, may be made within thescope of what is claimed, without departing from the spirit of theinvention.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 shows in side elevation, a schooldesk to which the device forming the subject matter of this applicationhas been applied;

Figure 2 is a front elevation of the structure shown in Figure l; V

Figure 3 is a vertical transverse section;

Figure 4 is an end view showing a portion of the flexible front of thecabinet;

Figure 5 is a fragmental vertical section, wherein the latch appears;

Figure 6 is a fragmental horizontal section;

Figure 7 is an 77 of Figure 2.

In Figures 1, 2 and 3, there is shown a support for the devicehereinafter referred to as the cabinet, the support being a school desk1 of ordinary construction, comprising metal frames 2 having outstandingportions 3 provided with hubs 1 on which the seat (not shown) ispivotally mounted, at the places indicated for the purposes of thepresent discussion by the elements 1% although those elements are notseat supports, in the device described, shown and claimed. The frames 2carry a back 5 for the seat, and the frames support a top 6, theconstruction being such that the pupil occupying the seat of the desk inthe rear can use the top 6 of the desk shown.

As has been stated hereinbefore, the front seats in the school room areof no use, and in the present invention, they are replaced by cabinets7.

The cabinet 7 embodies a back 8, which need not be curved to fitaccurately against the back 5 of the desk, side walls 9, a top 10abutting at its rear edge against the back 5, and a bottom 11. Throughthe side walls 9 pass securing elements 14, such as screws, the securingelements entering the hubs 4 of the parts 3 of the frames 2, to supportthe cabinet 7 between the said parts 3 of the frames, as shown in Figure2. Although the elements 14 have been referred to as securing elements,they need not necessarily clamp the cabinet 7 tightly in place. Thesecuring elements 14 may act as pivot elements, because they are locatednear enough to the net 7, so that the cabinet 7 will tend to gravitatebackwardly, the rear edge of thet'op 10 of the cabinet resting againstthe back 5 of the desk, and the cabinet retaining the sub enlargedsection on the line stantially vertical position of Figure 3, no

matter howheavy the load in the cabinet may be. Gravity need not berelied upon alone to keep the cabinet 7 from tilting forwardly: it maybe connected detachably to the back 5 in any suitable way, for instanceby hooks 12. The cabinet 7 may be tilted forwardly from front of thecabi- A the position of Figure 1, if the hooks 12 are released, when itis desired to brush the dirt out of the cabinet. A shelf 15 is locatedin the cabinet 7, and is placed about midway between the top 10 and thebottom 11.

The cabinet 7 has a flexible front 16, made up of slats 17, 20, and 21,the slat 20 being the uppermost slat, and the slat 21 being thelowermost slat. The slats 17, 20, and 21are secured, by gluing orotherwise, to a flexible backing. strip 18,*as is common in the art. Attheir ends, the slats 20 and 21 of the flexible front 16 have reducedtenons 19 of the same thickness as the intermediate slats 17, so thatboth the tenons 19 and the ends of the slats 17 can slide in verticalguide grooves 2 1, formed in the inner surfaces'of the side walls 9 ofthe cabinet, the guide grooves being open at both their upper and theirlower ends. On the left hand end of the uppermost slat 20 of Figures 7and 2 there is an outwardly extended projection 22, such as a pin; andon the right hand end of the lowermost slat 21 of Figure 2 there is acorresponding projection or pin 23.

A stop 26, which may be a screw,is mounted in one of the side walls 9,and extends into the path of the projection 22 on'the end of theuppermost slat 20, a stop 27, on the opposite side wall 9, bearing thesame relation to the projection 23 on the lowermost slat 21. Because theslats 20 and 21 are thicker than the slats 17, the projections 22 and 23can be located in front of the side walls 9 (Figure 7 and it is notnecessary to groove or alter the sidewalls 9 in any way for theaccommodation of the projections 22 and 23; The stop26 is located farenough belowtheshelf 15, so that when the flexible front 16 is sliddownwardly until the projection 22 on the uppermost slat 20 has engagedthe stop 26, the upper edge of the uppermost slat 20 will be flush with,or a little below, the upper surface of the shelf 15, thereby openingcompletely the upper compartment 29 (Figure 3) which exists above theshelf 15. In a similar way, when the flexible front 16 is pushedupwardly, until the projection 23 on the lowermost slat 21 engages thestop 27, the lower edge of the lowermost slat 21 will be flush with, ora little'above, the lower surface of the shelf 15, thereby openingcompletely, the lower compartment 28, which exists below the shelf 15.When the flexible front 16 is raised, to open the lower compartment 28,the flexible front 16 folds backwardly and is sup- .ported on the top 10of the cabinet 7 the guide grooves 2& being open at their upper ends.'lVhen the flexible front 16 is lowered.

to open the upper compartment 29, the front simply slides downwardly inthe guide grooves 24, the said grooves open at their lower ends.

The uppermost slat 20 of the flexible front 16 carries a latch 30, ofany desired construction, and under the control of an operator, thelatch being adapted to engage automatically with a keeper 31 on theforward edge of the top 10 of the cabinet, when the front is movedupwardly or downwardly, the pur pose of the latch 30 and the keeper 81being to hold the front 16 in the closed position of Figure 3. j v fWhat is claimed is 1. In an article of furniture, horizontally spacedframes, each having a forwardlyiprojecting portion, a back connectingthe frames and located above and to the rear of said forwardlyprojecting portions, a cabinet having its rear part abutting against theback, and means for mounting the lower endof the cabinet detachably onthe forwardly projecting portions of the frames, the upper end ofthecabinet being exposed, and the space above the upper end of'the cabinetbeing open and unincumbered'. v V v '2. In an article of furniture,horizontally spaced frames, each having a forwardlypro jecting portion,a back connecting the frames and located above and to the rearof saidforwardly projecting portions, afcabinet having its rear, partabuttingagainst the back, and pivot elements connectingthe lower endofthe cabinet with the forwardly projecting portions of the frames, thepivot elements be= ing located nearer to the front ofthecabinet than tothe rear part of the -cabinet,;whe reby the cabinet will tend togravitate rearwardly into abutment with the back, the cabinet be? ingforwardly tiltable on the pivot elements, to promotea cleaning-out ofthe cabinet, the upper end of the cabinet beingexposed, and the spaceabove the upper end of the'c'a-binet being open and unincumbered.

3. In an article of furniture, spaced frames, .eachv having a forwardlyproj ecting portion, a back connecting the'frames and located above andto the rear of said forwardly projecting portions, a cabinet having itsrear part abutting against the back, 5

the back, to prevent the cabinet from tilting forwardly on the pivotelements.

V 4. In an article of furniture, a cabinet having substantially verticalguides at its sides, the guides being substantially straight from endtoend, a guides being open'at their upper ends, and the front beingflexible, whereby when the front is raised, the front can flexbackwardly above the extreme top ofthe cabinet and form U the uppermostpart thereof, the guides being i open at their lower ends, whereby thefront may slide downwardly into a depending, exposed position and formthe lowermost part of the cabinet, means for supporting thecabhorizontally 4 v i .120 front slidable in the guides, the

inet in an elevated position, whereby the front may slide downwardly, asaforesaid, and means for limiting the downward sliding movement of thefront.

5. In an article of furniture, a cabinet having substantially verticalguides at its sides, the guides being substantially straight from end toend, a front slidably in the guides, the guides being open at theirupper ends, and the front being flexible, whereby when the front israised, the front can flex backwardly above the extreme top of thecabinet and form the uppermost part thereof, the guides being open attheir lower ends, whereby the front may slide downwardly into adepending, exposed, position and form the lowermost part of the cabinet,means for supporting the cabinet in an elevated position, whereby thefront may slide downwardly, as aforesaid, a substantially horizontalshelf in the cabinet and dividing the cabinet into an upper compartmentand a lower compartment, means for stopping the downward movement of thefront, with the upper edge of the front in substantial alignment withthe shelf, to open the upper compartment and to close the lowercompartment, and means for stopping the upward movement of the front,with the lower edge of the front in substantial alignment with theshelf, to open the lower compartment and to close the upper compartment.

6. An article of furniture constructed as set forth in claim 5, andfurther characterized by this that the stopping means comprise twovertically-spaced projections on the extreme forward edges of the sidewalls of the cabinet, one projection to each wall, and coactingprojections extended laterally from the outer ends of the uppermost andlowermost portions of the front, and located in advance of the extremeforward edges of the side walls of the cabinet.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing as our own, we have heretoaffixed our signatures.

JAMES KILLIUS. CHARLES H. DE FREHN.

